Gratitude for the ordinary

Today I am grateful for so many seemingly ordinary things....

For rain pouring down and the sound it makes as it hits the roof and drips from tree branches...

For a battery candle flickering as if it is real, for an electric fire "burning" as I write, for incense rising to the sky like my silent prayers -- unspoken but always echoing from my heart to a God who is so distant and so close all at once...

For hours of quiet and solitude stretching before me so I can write, think, pray, be...

For my family, off at school and work but safe and happy and healthy (save for one broken arm)...

For this beautiful month of September, my favorite month of the year (and not just because it includes my birthday). For all the things this month promises...crisp apples (if you can find them this year), crisp air that is just around the corner, and crisp leaves that will soon be underfoot waiting to be raked silently and slowly and mindfully beneath a bright autumn sun...

For the half-century mark of my life that is fast approaching. How did I get here? How much further will I go? Will I be like my grandmother and get to do this entire life all over again until I celebrate a century? I have already surpassed my own mother in terms of years. The mystery of it all can be overwhelming...

For every day I get, for however long...

For every person who loves me, faults and all...

For a Creator who loved me into being and loves without condition for all eternity...